Senior Pair and Free Dance

As I mentioned, I've only been there Sunday afternoon. I really wish I could make it there for the entire day...

I would love to see how Anabelle and Cody are doing (I feel the way Kypma said: I really wish we can send 4 teams to Olympic). Hopefully, she recovers well and Cody could add some fire to their performance.

According to the scores, they did OK for the short program. But, in the free skate, the best side-by-side jump they landed was a 2T, the 2S< only got 0.1...I hope they will be building along the season.

The new pair Kirsten Moore-Towers / Dylan Moscovitch looks promising, they landed the 3S-2A sequence and 3T (touch down or double footed, but not UR nor fall). They top the Free Skate

Free Dance
Appearly, two teams withdrew, and I arrived just right before Tessa and Scott about to start their Free Dance.
My friend told me that the Musics used by the previous two teams are:
Sophie Knippel / Benjaman Westenberger from the US - Schindler's List
Katherine Copely / Deividas Stagniunas from Lithuania - West Side Story

Last but not least, Virtue and Moir...
Looking at their costume, I knew it was going to be something soft and romantic. It sounds similar to "Some Where In Time", but someone pointed out the music is Gustav Mahler's Symphony No.5. Frankly, the program is not as refreshing as last year. Everything is flowing and smooth, but there is no building-up towards a climax, which the judges would love to see, it sort of stays in one tone. At this point, I still prefer their "Pink Floyd", it was a shame that they didn't get enough time to perfect their "Pink Floyd" last year.
Well, I love them and would like to be amazed when I see them again in SC

It's way too early to condemn a program. The best thing about V&M's FD is that they seemed very comfortable and very well trained. This is very much in their pre-PF mode...unfortunately for me, because I have always disliked sentimental, pretty=pretty programs. However, this is what V&M absolutely excel at, and it is their best choice for an Olympic year. The judges are very comfortable with this stuff.

I loved PF, and was sorry that Tessa's long recovery kept them from skating it at their very best, but I didn't think they'd have something equally interesting for the Olympic year...too much of a risk. I'm sorry to be proved right.

Senior Ladies Free Skate

I am trying to puzzle things out from my messy one-word-per-skater note, and I am not good at identifying the music. If there are mistakes, please correct me.

1 Nicole Hunter – Saskatoon
Music : Turando by Puccini (I might get mix up with Cormier’s Music).
She obviously had the weakest performance: two falls plus singling the last three jumps, we could feel that she was giving up the program half way.

2 Gabrielle Anne Cormier – Dieppe
Strong opening with the 2A-2A sequence then the program went downhill.

3 Christine Pulla – Bowmanville
She landed all her jumps, impressive. (no exclamation mark for many jumps are doubles) Nice speed across the ice, so that the ice coverage of her spiral really stood out (but graded level 1, too bad, there’s no cigar).

4 Stephanie Tran - Richmond Hill
Music: Gone With the Wind
Unable to land a single triple jump. Spins are in good positions but can be faster.

5 Acacia Hill - Y.R.S.A.
Music: Broken Sorrow from "Struggle from the Subway to the Charts" by Nuttin But Stringz (Chipeur’s FS from last season)
Looking at her name, I guess she is Asher Hill’s sister? Strong opening 2A-2A sequence, no falls.

6 Lisa Makeeva – Mariposa
Music: Ararat
Her tall, lean body and the magenta dress with silver sparkles stood out from the crowd. She had a very good warm up, jumps with spring and height, but not so good free skate. Double footed several jumps.UR kills.

7 Adriana DeSanctis – Mariposa
Music: Selections from Yo Yo Ma
The only lady landing a 3Lz in the free skate. Good speed across the ice. It looks like she lost some weight comparing to last year. Or it might be just that she wore a light colour costume before, and now she’s in deep blue.

8 Kristy Bell – Burlington
Music: The Mission
She had a very tough warm up with three hard falls. My friend commented: another tall and lean skater, she probably doesn’t have enough power for her size.

9 Erin Scherrer - Kitchener-Waterloo
There is a maturity in her skating setting her apart from the younger girls. Very fluid, the light pink dress suits her very well.

11 Alexandra Najarro - Y.R.S.A.
In a black dress with jewelled collar and long black gloves, pretty much like Audrey Hepburn in “Breakfast at Tiffany's”, probably that’s what she is portraying.

12 Tugba Karademir – Turkey
Music: Tango de los Exiliados
In a dark blue dress with single shoulder strap. She’s not skating to the music yet, but her jumps were high and with good flow when she landed, enough to top the senior ladies.

Crone /Poirier flamenco in some of the most awful costumes seen in a while

Totally agree, Paul should trade that distracting suit for a sleeveless shirt.
Thank you for the video links!

Originally Posted by sktgirl6

The african od suits them really good.... it was the same one they did 2 years ago.

It might be from the production "Umoja" also, but a definitely different selection. If I remember correctly, Asher Hill's uncle is the producer of "Umoja". I prefer the version for their previous African OD, because I feel the drum beats are the soul of African Music and the current version is usng vocal only. It's refreshing but missing something. Well, but I think it's not finalized yet, it probably will be cut differently later on into the season like last year.